North End Takeaways

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John
Whenever I would visit my parents in Feilding I used to frequent this place at least three times a week. Since these visits to my parents could be up to three months at a time, North End Takeaway’s has received a lot of business from me over the years. The ownership has remained the same during this time. I have always found the price of their fish and chips very reasonable and quality excellent so it is with great regret that I now find myself writing a negative review of the place. I have found during my last visit back that the quality has deteriorated drastically. I found that the batter of the fish has been consistently undercooked. Batter should be a golden brown, fluffy and crunchy. Instead the batter has been yellowy brown and very flat. Not uncooked to the point of being gooey but certainly undercooked in being flat without any body or crispiness to it. The problem is that the fish was not being cooked long enough in the oil for the batter to be cooked properly. It simply needed a couple of minutes longer in the oil. The only thing that I can think of for why they were doing this was because the less time the food spent in the oil, the less often they had to change the oil. I put up with this for a few times in the hope that it was simply an aberration because they had always provided excellent fish and chips in the past. Finally I requested that they cook the fish a little longer resulting in the batter being golden brown, fluffy and crunchy as it should be. It certainly is an inconvenience having to make this request when placing an order; however, it was the second time making this request that really through me. The woman serving me (who is also one of the owners and has served me for almost 10 years) told me, quite indignantly, that if I didn’t like the way she was cooking the fish, I should go elsewhere. So if you want the batter on your fish to be golden brown, you’ll need to ask, and if you ask, be prepared to be told that if you don’t like the way it’s being cooked, then don’t come back.